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History General

The Little Slaves of the Harp

Italian Child Street Musicians in Nineteenth-Century Paris, London, and New York

by (author) John E. Zucchi

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Apr 1992
Category
General, Ethnomusicology
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773508903
    Publish Date
    Apr 1992
    List Price
    $40.95

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Description

The padrone were often known to the families of the children or were from the same villages. While some were cruel exploiters who compelled obedience through terror and abuse - a view promoted by a few, well-publicized cases - the lot of most of these children was similar to that of child apprentices and helpers in other trades. Public reactions to the child performers were different in each city and reflected the host society's view of the influx of foreign immigrants in general. Although England, France, and the United States developed legislation in the mid-nineteenth century to deal with children in factories, they did not attempt to regulate children in street trades until later in the century because they saw the work as a form of begging. The battle to get Italian child musicians off the street dragged on for years before legislation and new work opportunities - often as onerous as or worse than street performing - directed the children into new trades.

About the author

Editorial Reviews

"This extremely interesting, unusual study, enlivened by photographs, throws a floodlight on ethnic prejudice, cultural constructs of childhood, Tammany Hall politics and 19th-century immigration and working conditions." Publishers Weekly "[Zucchi's] excellent monograph is a model evocation of a forgotten group." John Rosselli, Times Literary Supplement